1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for processing and presenting financing information to a user, and more particularly, to a method and system which allows a user to review financing account data and generate detailed reports which allows the user to better market financing alternatives to their customers.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Owners and operators of businesses whose sales strongly rely on financing by its customers have long sought ways to facilitate the financing activities associated with their products. This is particularly so in the case of an automobile dealer whose customers may want to take advantage of myriad financing opportunities available to them.
Typically, vendors employ rate sheets or access computerized systems which provide the vendor with the options available to them and their customers. The vendor must then go through the financing options in an effort to determine the best option for the customer as well as an option which will be profitable for the vendor. This is the case because many financial institutions provide the vendor with a percentage of the financing revenue derived as a result of the customer entering into a designated financing arrangement. For example, an automobile dealer who gets a customer to sign up for a particular type of lease may receive a percentage of the lease proceeds from the financial institution underwriting the lease.
The financial account associated with this arrangement is typically referred to as a “reserve” account. A reserve account corresponding to a motor vehicle dealer is referred to as a dealer reserve account. Reserve accounts allow vendors to track the credits they receive as a result of sales and financing activity and the debits incurred as a result of charge backs, adjustments, payoffs, etc. Typically, the vendor is provided with a periodic paper statement outlining the reserve activity and balances. This paper statement is wasteful, and often does not represent the current state of the vendor's reserve account. The vendor also can not quickly determine the impact on their reserve account resulting from customers' payment histories. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a vendor with electronic access to their reserve account to obtain up-to-date data regarding account status, and further to integrate the electronic access with other services which may be useful to the vendor in facilitating their financing activities.
Systems have also been developed which allow a vendor to electronically complete and submit a financing application to one or more financial institutions on behalf of a customer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,403, issued to DeFrancesco, is directed to a system which allows a car dealer to electronically prepare and submit a credit application to one or more funding institutions and alerting the vendor as to the result of the credit decision. While these systems facilitate loan application entry and the dissemination of a credit decision, these systems do not support the actual contract process, i.e., the process by which the customer accepts the funds in exchange for a promise to pay the loan and do not provide the vendor with the ability to generate detailed reports which allows the vendor to market their products to prospective customers.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,721, issued to Norris, is directed to a system which allows an applicant to electronically submit a loan application to a lending institution which then checks the applicant's credit and issues a determination. However, this system does not track contract status nor provide any prospecting information, particularly because it is the applicant who directly seeks the loan.
In addition, no system currently exists which seamlessly integrates financing functions into a simple network-based application which allows a user to obtain reserve account data, check contract status for pending customer contracts, obtain current lease or other loan program information and generate detailed reports for prospective customers based on a set of criteria determined by the vendor and to review reports relating to the vendors particular performance as against sales volumes, efficiency levels and the quality of the loans which have been generated as a result of their activity.